The girls screamed. They covered their eyes. They squirmed, scrunched down in their seats or grabbed the kid next to them, seeking protection from the horrors unfolding on the big screen.

When the movie ended, one young woman left the theater shaking uncontrollably.

This, the studio's marketing gurus knew, was a sure sign of success.

"I have to see this movie again, and next time I have to bring two guys," she told the studio's researchers at the end of the sneak preview. "I need one on either side."

Illustrating a continuing trend that defies conventional wisdom, on the opening weekend of New Line Cinema's remake of "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre," women younger than 25 made up the majority of the audience.

With the help of this demographic, the $9.2-million-budget picture has grossed more than $68 million at the box office and has been at or near the top of the charts for the last three weeks.

Young women also made up half, if not a majority, of the audience for such successful spine-tinglers as "The Ring," "Scream," "Jeepers Creepers 2," "Final Destination" and "Identity." Even horror spoofs like the megahit "Scary Movie 3" had an audience that was 50% female.

While female fascination with horror can be traced back a couple of centuries, at least to the Gothic novels, it is hitting new heights today as young female horror fans increasingly drive Hollywood's creation and marketing of scary movies. The casting in these films of popular young actresses, such as Jessica Biel in "Texas" and Christina Ricci in Dimension Films' upcoming werewolf movie, "Cursed," is calculated specifically to help studio marketers sell their movie effectively.

"You would think they would be the last audience to be excited about a scary thriller or a horror movie," said Sony Pictures Entertainment's head of marketing, Geoffrey Ammer. "They are the first audience."

Invigorating the genre

No marketing decision on these horror films is made without considering how to attract girls and women younger than 25, added Russell Schwartz, head of marketing for New Line Cinema, which distributed "Texas."

"This young audience has been such a boon to movies over the past five years," he said, noting that "Scream" and "I Know What You Did Last Summer" reinvigorated the genre and introduced it to a new generation of girls. "They can go in groups on a Friday night.

"It becomes a pack thing, the same way an action movie is a pack thing for guys."

"Women have changed the genre just by the way they have viewed it, by the pictures they have supported and pictures they have not supported," he said.

Thirteen-year-old Elissa Carfagna remembers watching her first horror film, "Leprechaun," when she was 6 years old in her older brother's room with a group of friends.

She has seen "The Ring" seven times and can recite lines from the movie. (The remake of a Japanese chiller ended up grossing $128 million domestically while costing DreamWorks about a quarter of that to make and market. A sequel is in the works for next year.)

Carfagna and her friends even went on a search for the original Japanese version of "The Ring," called "Ringu," at an art house video store in their suburban hometown of Glendale, Ariz. The subtitled Japanese thriller was the featured attraction, in addition to foosball and nachos, at her friend's 13th birthday slumber party.

To Carfagna, there is something therapeutic in being scared. It is also a communal activity where she can hold hands, scream and grab her friends without anyone thinking she is weird.

"You have a reason to go with your friends because you are scared," she said. "You can be close to somebody when you are scared. I don't like the gore, [but] I don't really mind the violence because it's part of how it's scary....

"I think it's the part of the thrill and the adrenaline that comes with it."

It is the same kind of adrenaline rush that comes from riding a roller coaster, said Glen Gabbard, professor of psychiatry at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston and author of "Psychiatry and the Cinema."

"What happens in a horror movie is that they tap into anxieties that are very much present in adolescence," he said. "A teenage girl watching this can see some of her anxieties on the screen at a safe distance.... That fright in the movie theater is followed by an immediate laughter and release of 'I'm OK.' "

These movies allow a safe way of dealing with the real threat of violence against women, said Patricia Leavy, a sociologist and pop culture scholar at Stonehill College in Easton, Mass.

"In reality, women are most likely to be the victims of violence," she said, noting that in these horror films the females are often attacked but then turn the violence on their male/monster predators.

"It's a form of escape, of looking at something that is an epidemic and looking at it as a form of entertainment."

Is it exploitative, as some feminists have contended for years?

"The shortest route to getting that audience is to put Jessica Biel in a tank top," she said. "If you mix sex and violence, you are sure to get a crowd."

Beverly Gray, who worked as a writer and producer for producer Roger Corman, said she sees these films as female empowerment tales.

"The young female lead [faces] the dangerous, though sometimes sexually enticing, male head-on and triumphs, bloody but unbowed," she wrote in an e-mail exchange. "No wonder young female moviegoers find such films appealing."

For the horror movies to strike a chord with young females, the lead must be a strong, take-charge character, said Bob Weinstein, chairman of Dimension Films, which released and marketed the "Scream" and "Scary Movie" franchises.

"The female audience wants to see a female heroine," he noted, but women serve a dual purpose. "From a filmmaker's point of view, who else but a female seems more vulnerable?"

The mother of all vulnerable but strong horror heroines was Ripley, many observers believe.

Twentieth Century Fox's head of production at the time, Alan Ladd Jr., suggested that the filmmakers change the lead to a female, recalled Ronald Shusett, who served as executive producer of the film and co-wrote the story with Dan O'Bannon.

"We thought they should all be equal so you wouldn't know who was killed next," he said.

Equal-opportunity killing

Today's female audience wouldn't fall for the helpless, dim-witted, curvaceous female who "tripped in the forest or went into a dark basement with a faulty flashlight," Barker said.

"Cinema never leads, it always follows sociologically," he said. "It is a reflection of what we think. Women were fed up with watching themselves as empty-headed bimbos. They wanted equal-opportunity murder.

"If you were going to murder some cute girl at Camp Crystal, you were going to have to murder some cute boys too."

Weinstein, who began distributing Barker's "Hellraiser" movies starting with the third in the series after he launched Miramax's Dimension Films label, said Barker had to convince him that females should be targeted in the marketing campaign.

"I questioned that," said Weinstein. "I didn't realize that women were as big an audience as men. It's not perception of action or violence" that draws them. "What you are selling is fright."

"Texas" producer Michael Bay said New Line executives were very wary of the gore factor because girls ordinarily don't like blood and guts.

They warned him that women would not like the movie unless some of the gore was eliminated. Bay, who had the final cut of the film, says he toned it down a bit but was still "very surprised that they would like this movie that much. There are groups of girls that have seen this movie three times."

He said he learned something new in his first horror movie venture:

"The girls run the show."

Logged

“Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art.” - Andy Warhol

more than any other time in history, mankind faces a crossroads. one path leads to despair and utter hopelessness. the other, to total extinction. let us pray we have the wisdom to choose correctly.woody allen (side effects - 1980)

seriously, it is the filmmakers job to MAKE THEIR MOVIE. then, when its done, its the marketing dept.'s job to make people want to see it. when did the marketing dept. start becoming a part of the pre-production? *(i'm puking as i'm typing this).

also, the notion of the 'female herione' in all these horror movies is so worn out and was never really a good idea to begin with. ripley was great. thats about it. in all these goddamn horror movies i watched last month with the female always being the one to survive; ridiculous! would not happen. no offense to any women, but c'mon, who's more likely to survive that kind of thing?

Logged

Christopher Nolan's directive was clear to everyone in the cast and crew: Use CGI only as a last resort.

seriously, it is the filmmakers job to MAKE THEIR MOVIE. then, when its done, its the marketing dept.'s job to make people want to see it. when did the marketing dept. start becoming a part of the pre-production? *(i'm puking as i'm typing this).

But I don't really see much difference when a studio has a project and wants to go after a Tom Cruise or a Julia Roberts or any other 'A' list talent for it. It's because they want to have a 'name' attached. Same thinking here, just on a much smaller (pay) scale.

Logged

“Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art.” - Andy Warhol

Hardly a comparison. Tom Cruise and Julia Roberts, or "A-list" stars as it were, have years of experience in film to back them up. They may or may not sometimes get cast because of there "names", but when they do get cast you know you will more than likely get an excellent performance out of them. TCM people cast Jessica Biel because she was on the WB and has been on magazine covers. Catering to the younger generation I guess.

Logged

They say we all lose 21 grams at the exact moment of our death... everyone. The weight of a stack of nickels. The weight of a chocolate bar. The weight of a hummingbird...

Hardly a comparison. Tom Cruise and Julia Roberts, or "A-list" stars as it were, have years of experience in film to back them up. They may or may not sometimes get cast because of there "names", but when they do get cast you know you will more than likely get an excellent performance out of them.

But don't tell me studios don't think we'll get Tom Hanks or Tom Cruise because he's a box office draw rather than he's a good actor. The reason they are 'A' listers is because they bring in the most box office receipts. The money is first and foremost in their thinking. That's why they're studios in show business.

Quote from: pinkerton310

TCM people cast Jessica Biel because she was on the WB and has been on magazine covers. Catering to the younger generation I guess.

And that's exactly what I'm talking about. She is a 'name' just on a lower scale. She has a following of fans based on long running, hit TV series. Same idea as putting Jennifer Love Hewitt (Party Of Five) and Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy) in "I Know What You Did Last Summer" or adapting "Lizzy MacGuire" to the big screen and making Hillary Duff a star.

Logged

“Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art.” - Andy Warhol

» THE BOX OF FRANKENSTEINSource: Davis DVDUniversal Home Video will begin re-releasing its classic monster titles this year, starting with Frankenstein on April 27th. The two-disc Frankenstein: The Legacy Collection will feature the original Frankenstein, The Bride of Frankenstein, Son of Frankenstein, Ghost of Frankenstein and House of Frankenstein all with remastered fullscreen transfers and Dolby Digital 2.0 mono audio. Retail is a nice $26.98

five films for 25 bucks is fantastic! (i believe Son, Ghost and House have never been released on dvd before either). remastered is great, mono is not. but this is a sigh of relief that theyre re-releasing all the monsters this year because the ebay prices on the previous incarnations are more than i want to spend.

Logged

Christopher Nolan's directive was clear to everyone in the cast and crew: Use CGI only as a last resort.

On April 27th, you'll get the Dracula: The Legacy Collection, a 2-disc set which will include Dracula (1931), Dracula: Original Spanish Version and Dracula's Daughter on Disc One, with Son of Dracula and House of Dracula on Disc Two.

Also streeting on that day will be the Frankenstein: The Legacy Collection, another 2-disc set including Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein and Son of Frankenstein on Disc One, with Ghost of Frankenstein and House of Frankenstein on Disc Two.

Not done yet - you'll also see the 2-disc The Wolf Man: The Legacy Collection on 4/27, which will include The Wolf Man and Werewolf of London on Disc One, and Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman and She-Wolf of London on Disc Two. The SRP on each of these collections will be $26.98.

Finally, 4/27 will also see the release of The Monster Legacy Gift Set 6-disc set (SRP $79.98 ), which will include all three of the above Legacy collection discs, along with collectible Dracula, Frankenstein and Wolf Man figurines in a boxed set.

We don't know if the previously released titles are going to have the same extras as before, but we'll post any additional details regarding bonus material when it comes in. We do know that the packaging for these releases will be Digipaks with outer boxes, and that all of the films will be in their original full frame aspect ratios with audio in Dolby Digital 2.0 mono.

Logged

“Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art.” - Andy Warhol

Universal has finally confirmed that their Monster Legacy discs, due on April 27th, indeed will come with extras! Dracula: The Legacy Collection will include feature commentary from film historian David J.Skal (on the first film) and "The Road to Dracula" original documentary. Frankenstein: The Legacy Collection includes a commentary from film historian Rudy Behlmer, "The Frankenstein Files: How Hollywood Made a Monster" original documentary by David J.Skal, another documentary on the making of the Frankenstein films and more. The Wolf Man: The Legacy Collection will include commentary from film historian Tom Weaver, "The Wolf Man" making-of documentary and more. Retail is $26.98 per two-disc set.

Logged

Christopher Nolan's directive was clear to everyone in the cast and crew: Use CGI only as a last resort.

Dimension Films co-chairman Bob Weinstein will remake The Hills Have Eyes. Wes Craven, who wrote and directed the 1977 original, will produce. Alexandre Aja and Gregory Levasseur will write the script and Aja will direct.

The original film centered on a hapless family that makes a detour to a desolated desert to visit a silver mine they've inherited. There they are preyed upon by a disturbing clan.

Aja and Levasseur are the French fright film tandem behind Haute Tension and Furia, which the duo wrote and Aja directed.

Logged

“Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art.” - Andy Warhol

One of my good buddies on the inside, whom wishes to remain anonymous, had some good news regarding the Friday the 13th box set, "Paramount has confirmed that Special Editions of ALL eight Paramount owned Friday the 13th flicks ARE DEFINITELY coming out in 2004!!" This may not sound like news to you, considering the speculated September release, but notice he said "special editions of all eight." That means every disc could be jammed packed with hockey mask goodness! Watch this spot for more in the future.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------i wonder if special edition just means a few featurettes or if it means they will be restoring the films to their original glory(gory)? the ones on dvd/vhs right now are heavily heavily edited even from their theatrical releases (making bad movies UNWATCHABLE). hopefully this will set things right.

Logged

Christopher Nolan's directive was clear to everyone in the cast and crew: Use CGI only as a last resort.